Winners of the speech contest on space pose for a photo at the award ceremony in Xiamen July 21. [Photo from WeChat account visitxm]

Forty-eight youths from across the Taiwan Straits took part in the final of a speech contest in Xiamen July 21, thinking and dreaming about space in the most creative ways. 

More than 1,200 students from nine schools in Xiamen have signed up for the 2019 Cross-Straits (Xiamen) Youth "Space Orator" Speech Contest since the competition opened in May, and they were joined by excellent competitors from the Taiwan division. 

The finalists emerged after two rounds of screening. They were considered to have excellent logical thinking and language proficiency as shown in the speeches and debates, and their command of specialist knowledge supported their unfettered imaginations. The online voting process attracted more than 400,000 people. 

Hong Zhangyang, Guo Jingyi and Hong Xuyao won the middle school group, the elementary school senior group, and the elementary school lower grade group. 

The winner, runner-up and second runner-up in each group will attend an upcoming recitation event in Beijing. They will also have the opportunity to appear at the gala celebration for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, according to the organizing committee. 

The Chengyi Science and Technology Discovery Center where the final competition was held organized two days of learning for participants, with the aim of teaching them about journeying to Mars and interstellar migration. 

The competition is among a series of themed activities constituting the Third Cross-Straits (Xiamen) Youth Space Dream event. The latter has been held three times since 2016 and has become one of the most distinctive brands promoting cross-Straits youth exchanges.